Iron Dome Cost $25 Million To Shoot Down Palestinian Rockets

Israel’s Iron Dome interceptions of Palestinian rockets during eight days of Gaza fighting cost $25 million to $30 million, the government said today, saying the U.S.-backed system was well worth the money.

“Were Iron Dome traded on the (Tel Aviv) stock exchange or Nasdaq, it would have multiplied its share value several times over,” Civil Defense Minister Avi Dichter told Israel Radio in an interview where he outlined the system’s outlay, as reported by Reuters.

Using radar-guided interceptor missiles, Reuters reported, Israel’s five truck-towed Iron Dome batteries shot down 421 of some 1,500 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip between November 14 and Wednesday’s Egyptian-brokered truce, the military said.

It put Iron Dome’s success rate at 90 percent. To lower costs, the system engages only rockets that threaten populated areas, though it often fires two interceptor missiles at once.